 Wide West, probably on the Willamette River.
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Wide West |
| Owner | Oregon Steam Navigation Co.; later, Oregon Railway & Navig. Co. |
| Route | Columbia River and lower Willamette River to Portland, Oregon |
| Builder | John J. Holland |
| Cost | $114,000 |
| Completed | 1877, Portland, Oregon |
| Out of service | 1888 |
| Identification | 80650 |
| Fate | Dismantled 1888, engines and upper works used to complete T. J. Potter |
| Notes | Hull repowered as propeller-driven barge, wrecked on Destruction Island, 1889. |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Riverine passenger/freight |
| Tonnage | 1200.80 gross; 928.75 registered tons |
| Length | 218 ft (66.4 m) hull; 246 ft 9 in (75.21 m) measured over hull (exclusive of fantail) |
| Beam | 39 ft 9 in (12.1 m) hull; 46 ft 9 in (14.25 m) exclusive of guards |
| Depth | 8 ft 0 in (2.44 m) |
| Decks | three (main, boiler, and hurricane) |
| Installed power | twin steam engines, horizontally mounted, each with bore of 28 in (71.1 cm) and stroke of 8 ft (2.44 m) |
| Propulsion | sternwheel |
| Speed | Varied, highest recorded over long distance: 24 miles (39 km) per hour (downstream). |
Wide West was a steamboat that served in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. It had a reputation as a luxury boat of its days.
Wide West was built in 1877 in Portland, Oregon, by the Oregon Steam Navigation Company. It was built entirely of wood. Wide West was a sternwheeler, 218 feet long and rated at 1200 tons. On the Columbia River, unlike the Mississippi and other rivers in the eastern part of the country, there were very few sidewheel steamboats. Wide West was placed on the run from Portland to the Cascades of the Columbia, which at that time, was the head of navigation. Passengers had to disembark and ride a short railway around the Cascades to board another steamboat to travel further upriver. Cargo similarly had to be unloaded and reloaded again.
In 1888 Wide West was disassembled. The upper works and machinery were used to build another steamboat, the T. J. Potter. This was typical of the time, as the wooden-hulls would become waterlogged and worn, and it was easier to simply rebuild a new boat. The upper works and machinery were reused, as they were more durable and still had economic value after only ten years of operation.
In practice, Wide West was sometimes referred to simply as the West.[1]
- ^ "To Spokane and Beyond". The West Shore. 8 (8). Portland, OR: Leopold Samuel: 144. August 1, 1882.